Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation | A grassroots organization and leading agency in Vietnam’s fight against human trafficking, Blue Dragon has rescued almost 2,000 people from slavery. Cambodia has become a focus area since 2022, with the organization rescuing a growing number of people from brothels and criminal compounds.

In recent visits to Cambodia, teams documented the scale and impact of organized crime behind the human-trafficking crisis. Despite recent publicized crackdowns on scam centers, Blue Dragon found that the scam industry is going strong — and growing. The crackdowns appear to be forcing more of a reshuffling than a significant slowing or stoppage of activity.

The team’s reporting includes photography and observations from their travels throughout Cambodia, where they witnessed dozens of active scam compounds — and more under construction — in both tourist areas and remote locations. It’s important to remember that Cambodia is just one area of scam activity. Tens of thousands more people are being exploited in Myanmar, Laos, and other areas.

Insight from Rescued Victims: Blue Dragon has rescued more than 140 victims from Cambodian scam centers. They followed job offers that promised legitimate work. Instead, they were trafficked — taken to compounds where they were forced to commit scams under threat of torture.

Ongoing Construction: In some of the more remote locations, online scamming appears to be the only activity. The compounds are clusters of up to 14 buildings. In remote areas, the only paved roads lead to compounds.

Cambodian Economy: The scam industry has become part of the local economy and day-to-day life. Although Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia, the compounds do millions in business. Local workers have moved closer to the compounds to provide supplies.

Impact of the Crackdown: Thousands of people released from compounds after raids began in January are now living on the streets near compounds. Foreign embassies and NGO services are unequipped to deal with the volume of people.

Full article: Fortresses of fraud: Lessons from an undercover visit to Cambodia’s scam centres